Chapter 299: Chapter 246: Mess With Anyone, But Don’t Mess With the United States Team

Daejeon Central Hospital.

The ambulance came wailing to a stop.

Chen Yu was the first to jump out of the ambulance.

The moment the match ended, Chen Yu didn’t bother rejoining the team and instead had Donovan rushed to the hospital.

"Where is everyone?" Heskey asked, taken aback.

Outside the emergency center entrance, there were surprisingly no doctors or nurses to receive them.

Chen Yu frowned. ’What the hell are they playing at?’

Chen Yu refused to believe the hospital hadn’t been notified by the dispatch center.

"Let’s just go straight in."

The group pushed the gurney into the emergency center. They hadn’t gone far when a young man suddenly rushed over and hurled a cup at Donovan.

Luckily, it missed.

The accompanying police officers seemed a beat too slow and didn’t stop the young man in time. He rushed forward, trying to kick the gurney.

Fortunately, the staff with them reacted quickly and managed to restrain him.

Only then did the police step forward to pull him away.

The young man kept shouting something nonstop.

Chen Yu looked around. There were quite a few people in the lobby, and all of them had turned to look their way.

In a nearby waiting area, a TV was on. A host was ranting, spit flying, as footage of Park Ji-sung and An Zhenhuan being carried off the field played on a loop.

The point was, not a single doctor or nurse had yet come over to admit him.

With a grim expression, Chen Yu told Heskey to go ask the front desk.

"They said there are too many patients and no doctors available right now. They told us to wait in line," Heskey said indignantly as he ran back.

Chen Yu snapped.

’The World Cup is supposed to have a priority access channel. How could there be no doctors?’

Chen Yu strode over to the admissions desk.

A nurse behind the front desk was on the phone. Chen Yu reached out and disconnected the call.

The nurse was stunned, clutching the receiver and looking at Chen Yu uneasily.

"Give you..." Chen Yu had just said two words when he abruptly stopped. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

After staring fixedly at the nurse for ten seconds, Chen Yu suddenly turned around.

"Let’s go. Back to the hotel!"

’We’re not getting him treated here.’ In this situation, Chen Yu was genuinely worried that handing Donovan over to them would create even more problems.

Chen Yu had already administered the necessary first aid. Coming here was just a formality to get some scans, but Donovan would ultimately need surgery anyway. They might as well go straight back to the United States for it.

When it came to medical matters, Chen Yu’s word was final, so Heskey didn’t dare argue. The group got back in the ambulance and returned to the hotel.

Chen Yu took out his phone and called Martin, wanting to have him arrange a flight to get Donovan back to the States as soon as possible.

The call connected after a moment.

The line was noisy and sounded very chaotic.

"What’s wrong?" Chen Yu’s heart skipped a beat as he asked anxiously.

Martin’s tone was surprisingly relaxed. "It’s nothing, our bus is just surrounded by South Korean fans."

Right after the match, Alina had wanted to go to the post-game press conference to face the reporters and call out the blatant corruption in the match.

But the organizers cited security concerns and directly announced that the post-match press conference was canceled.

Reporters were also blocked by security and forbidden from contacting the United States Team.

After discussing it, the United States Team decided to head back to the hotel first. But as soon as their bus left the stadium, they were blocked by enraged fans waiting outside.

"Are you guys okay?" Chen Yu asked hurriedly.

"We’re fine. Tons of police showed up, even SWAT teams. They’re dispersing the fans now, so we’ll definitely be okay. By the way, Chen, how are things on your end?" Martin wasn’t worried about their current situation at all. He didn’t think South Korea would dare let anything happen to them, not in a million years.

"Not great." Chen Yu quickly recounted what happened at the hospital.

"Fack, how dare they!" Martin exploded. "Chen, I’m calling the South Korean government right now to make them fix this."

"Don’t bother." Chen Yu shook his head. "Right now, I’m worried something will go wrong if we hand Donovan over to them for treatment. Just arrange a flight as soon as possible. Send Donovan back to Phoenix, and I’ll handle his treatment there."

Martin thought for a moment and agreed.

Just as Chen Yu said, he really didn’t feel comfortable entrusting Donovan to outsiders at a time like this.

"I’ll book the tickets right now."

Just then, Contiguglia’s voice could be heard on the other end of the line, and then he took the phone.

"Chen, let’s meet up at the hotel later. We can’t just let this go!" Contiguglia’s voice was stern and angry.

Chen Yu grunted in agreement. ’Indeed, we can’t just let this go. An eye for an eye is nowhere near enough.’

The ambulance arrived at the hotel.

Outside the hotel, there were also large numbers of enraged South Korean fans, but there were even more police. There was even a police helicopter circling overhead.

Security had been upgraded another level.

Chen Yu had Heskey take Donovan to rest and pack his things, while he himself waited in the lobby for the team.

It was past midnight when the team finally arrived at the hotel.

They looked unharmed. In fact, the players were all fired up, still indignantly discussing what had happened.

After sending the players off to rest, Contiguglia sat down with Chen Yu and Alina in the hotel lobby’s lounge area.

"I want to make them pay!" Contiguglia said, his voice murderous from the start.

Chen Yu nodded. ’To be honest,’ he thought, ’from my interactions with Contiguglia, I never expected the man with a doctorate to have this side to him.’

"Robert, what’s your plan?" Alina asked in a low voice. Being sent to the stands had been a complete and utter humiliation.

And this was the United States Team.

’Frankly, in any international sporting event the United States participated in, not getting a favorable call was already a raw deal!’

Contiguglia looked up at Chen Yu. "Chen, I might have to trouble you to stay in South Korea for a couple more days. I’ve already contacted the local FBI office. They’re going to send someone over to investigate the time Zheng Mengjun tried to bribe you, so I’ll need your help with providing evidence."

Chen Yu nodded. ’I was just thinking Contiguglia might bring up the bribery incident.’

He and Contiguglia had discussed the feasibility of this before. As the National Team’s doctor, an official of the Football Association, being bribed by Zheng Mengjun was a perfectly valid reason to launch an investigation against him.

As for whether the FBI had jurisdiction in South Korea, that was completely unimportant. In the FBI’s logic, as long as a crime was committed on US soil, or as long as a crime was related to an American, they had the right to investigate.

"What about that referee? He’s dirty, isn’t he?" Chen Yu asked.

Alina scoffed. It wasn’t a question of something being wrong; he had ’guilty’ written all over his face.

’A blind man could have called a fairer game.’

Contiguglia snorted. "Don’t worry, we won’t let him get away."

Then he couldn’t help but add, "FIFA is a complete mess right now. It’s absolute chaos."

To dare pull something like this in front of millions of fans worldwide, making such blatantly corrupt calls—Contiguglia refused to believe that the higher-ups at FIFA were unaware and that this was just Moreno acting alone.

Moreno wouldn’t have had the guts to do this on his own.

So from the very beginning, Contiguglia’s target was clear. He wasn’t going to bother with a small fry like Moreno. If they were going to go after someone, they’d go after Zheng Mengjun.

He refused to believe that Zheng Mengjun had nothing to do with this.

Or even Blatter.

When you pull up one radish, you get all the mud attached. This wasn’t the first he’d heard of the dirty laundry within FIFA. After all, it was a private organization, cleverly set up in Switzerland with opaque finances. It had grown so fast after Avelange took over; one could only imagine how corrupt it was on the inside.

But as long as it didn’t mess with the United States Team, Contiguglia couldn’t be bothered to care.

But now that they had used such corrupt refereeing to hurt the United States Team’s results, Contiguglia didn’t care why Zheng Mengjun did it. The fact was, he did it, and now he was going to get him.

And when he thought about the hundred-thousand-US-dollar bonus he would’ve received for reaching the quarterfinals—now gone—he grew even more furious.

South Korea isn’t a large country.

It was almost three in the morning when people from the FBI arrived.

People from the embassy came at the same time. With fans surrounding the bus and the hotel, the United States Team’s security had become an issue that could no longer be ignored. They had to get involved.

The man from the FBI was named Derek Xiao. Chen Yu didn’t know his rank. After seriously inquiring about the bribery process, he finally lowered his voice with a grin and asked, "Chen, you really didn’t let that Li Hyori in? She’s pretty famous over here in South Korea. You know, it would’ve been fine if you’d let her in."

’So he’s cracking jokes now.’

Chen Yu rolled his eyes and whispered back, "Xiao, can we not publicize the exact details of what happened? Or at least not describe it so vividly?"

’It would be best to leave Li Hyori’s name out of it entirely.’

Even though nothing happened, Chen Yu didn’t want Lexi to get the wrong idea.

Xiao chuckled and nodded, indicating it wasn’t a problem.

He stood up, exchanged a look with Contiguglia, and said, "Dr. Contiguglia, rest assured, we will handle this matter properly."

With that, he turned and departed.

This was destined to be a restless night.

「A hotel in the city」

Jin Xiaozhong knocked and entered. Zheng Mengjun was on the phone.

"Mr. Blatter, rest assured. I will handle this matter. There won’t be any problems," Zheng Mengjun said into the phone.

On the other end of the line, Blatter sighed helplessly and said coldly, "It had better be that way. And next time, if you’re going to do something, can you please discuss it with me first?"

’I promised I would help the South Korea Team achieve good results.’

’I already helped in the group stage. Otherwise, how could the South Korea Team have possibly finished first in their group and conveniently avoided Italy?’

’Before this match, I explicitly warned Zheng Mengjun not to pull anything. That was the United States Team. They’re not to be trifled with.’

’And what does Zheng Mengjun do? He gives me this massive "surprise." I nearly went insane watching the match on TV.’

’Go after anyone else, just not the United States Team!’

"I understand," Zheng Mengjun agreed verbally, but he was bitter inside.

’Heavens be my witness, I didn’t want to pull any tricks at first,’ he lamented internally. ’Who the hell knew the United States Team would be so strong? We couldn’t beat them in a straight fight.’

’And then there’s Moreno. That bastard, how could he have been so obvious? He basically announced to the entire world that he was bought and paid for.’

Hanging up the phone, Zheng Mengjun rubbed his temples in frustration before asking Jin Xiaozhong about the situation with the United States Team.

Jin Xiaozhong shook his head and said that the United States Team had returned to their hotel smoothly and were now under heavy police protection, so their safety was not an issue.

"That’s good. And right, make absolutely sure no reporters get near the United States Team. In short, we wait until we have an agreement on our end before making any public announcements." His plan was to negotiate privately, establish a unified story, and then go public.

After thinking for a moment, Zheng Mengjun added, "Go and contact Dr. Contiguglia again, and also Secretary Bock from the United States embassy. I want to schedule a proper talk with them."

’This is going to cost me a fortune again,’ he thought.

’But for the sake of my future, it’s a price worth paying.’

Jin Xiaozhong nodded and turned to leave.

Just then, Zheng Mengjun’s phone rang.

Waving for Jin Xiaozhong not to leave just yet, Zheng Mengjun answered the call.

It was a call from a very high-ranking official.

As soon as the call connected, the voice on the other end said hurriedly, "Zheng Mengjun, you need to act fast. Find a way to handle everyone involved, especially that referee. I just got word that the FBI is preparing to investigate you."

Zheng Mengjun was so shocked he shot up from his seat.

"The FBI is investigating me? Investigating what?"

Zheng Mengjun grew frantic. ’This is the World Cup, a FIFA matter. The FBI can’t get involved in this, can they?’

’And those Americans are so shameless! It’s just a soccer match, and they’re calling in the FBI?’

The voice on the other end lowered, "You idiot, have you forgotten? You tried to bribe that team doctor from the United States Team before. They’re investigating you for bribing an official of the United States Soccer Federation."

Zheng Mengjun’s face instantly turned pale as a cold sweat broke out on his back. ’That’s right,’ he realized, ’there was the bribery attempt.’

"I understand."

Zheng Mengjun hurriedly hung up the phone, his hands starting to tremble uncontrollably.

It took a full half-minute for Zheng Mengjun to come to his senses. He quickly dialed Moreno’s number.

A long busy signal answered. The call didn’t go through.

He dialed again, but the result was the same.

Zheng Mengjun’s heart sank. ’Don’t tell me something has already happened to Moreno... Has the FBI already gotten to him?’